Professor Gerald Lalor (left), chairman and director-general of the International Centre for Environmental Nuclear Sciences, UWI, Mona, yesterday shows a clump of lead collected from the lead-contaminated soil in Kintyre, St. Andrew, to Albert Daley (right) of the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica. Dr. Mitko Vutchkov (centre), ICENS scientist with special interest in lead research, looks on. - Ian AllenBy Eulalee Thompson,
Staff Reporter
BLOOD LEAD levels in most of the new generation of children attending the Kintyre Basic School, rural St. Andrew, are now within acceptable levels, following an extended intervention programme by the International Centre for Environmental and Nuclear Sciences, UWI, Mona.
Following up on this success, ICENS is expanding its lead programme to cover the entire Kintyre community. The researchers will study potential sources of lead from food, water, air particulates and utensils, entering the blood.
Professor Gerald Lalor, ICENS chairman and director-general, said yesterday that a four-year follow-up of a new generation of children attending the school indicates much better blood lead levels. Their blood lead levels now fall below the 10 microgramme per decilitre which is the acceptable level using United States standards.
"The latest results confirm the validity and value of the approaches. Only five children require follow up and none of these would be considered a medical emergency," Prof. Lalor told a small group of scientists and researchers attending a breakfast forum at ICENS.
The problem in Kintyre community on the east bank of the Hope River, close to Papine, came to public's attention in the mid 1990s when ICENS researchers, who were engaged in an islandwide examination of the occurrences of lead, found high concentrations of the metal in the soil of that community. Historical records, according to ICENS, indicate that lead ore had been mined intermittently in that area since 1758, but was abandoned around 1856 when it was no longer profitable.
Processing plant
When the ICENS researchers became interested in the area, they found that the basic school was located in the building that had served as the processing plant for the ore and that the schoolyard and environs had been grossly contaminated by ore and lead-rich minewaste. This resulted in high lead levels in the children's blood which, Prof. Lalor said, reflected serious lead poisoning.
In 1995, ICENS intervened, isolated the lead waste from the school environment, using marl and cement, provided the children with regular supplies of food rich in protein, calcium and iron (to counter the lead poisoning), improved cleanliness, sanitation and public education and after only 10 months found a dramatic reduction in blood lead levels (though it was still considered too high).
Lead, unlike other heavy metals such as iron, performs no physiological function. High blood lead level is believed to cause neurological damage, lower IQ, lower fertility rate and damage the kidneys. Research has linked high levels of blood lead to violent and criminal behaviour. This sociological area, Prof. Lalor said, will require more local research.
Another well-known lead-contaminated community was Fraser's Content (Red Pond), St. Catherine. The proliferation of "backyard battery repair shops" resulted in high levels of lead poisoning among residents, especially young children. However, researchers reported earlier this year that only two lead-poisoning cases were found in that area after an intervention project launched by Blue Cross of Jamaica.
